Hair removal tool

ABSTRACT

A hair removal tool comprising a handle having at one end a short blade having a stiff body with a relatively thin, blunt edge and sidewall surfaces that are serrated by crossing surfaces not perpendicular to the blunt edge.

United States Patent lnventor Francis Lee Newell 5825 l-larbord Drive,Oakland, Calif. 94611 Appl. No. 844,761 Filed July 25, 1969 PatentedOct. 19, 1971 HAIR REMOVAL TOOL 6 Claims, 8 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl 128/355, 119/92, 81/3 Int. Cl ..A61b 17/09, AOlk 13/00 Field ofSearch 81/3;7/1 C, 14.5; 128/355; 132/76.4,76.5; 29/7880;' 119/92, 86,83

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 198,777 1/1878 Nicholson145/61 281,626 7/1883 French 145/61 X Primary Examiner-Robert C. RiordonAssistant ExaminerRoscoe V. Parker, J r. Attorney-Owen, Wickersham &Erickson ABSTRACT: A hair removal tool comprising a handle having at oneend a short blade having a stiff body with a relatively thin, blunt edgeand sidewall surfaces that are serrated by crossing surfaces notperpendicular to the blunt edge.

PAIENTEHum 19 WI INVENTOR. FRANCIS LEE NEWELL $0M. LgjMw L ATTORNEYSHAIR REMOVAL TOOL This invention relates to an improved hair removaltool.

The tool of this invention is especially useful for the removal ofunwanted hair from harsh-coated dogs, such as Airedales, wire-haired foxterriers, sehnauzers, Sealyhams, Scotties, cairns, and Australianterriers. It can also be used to remove hair from people or from otheranimals. It is useful for the removal of hair around an irritated area,as well as for the removal'of hair for the sake of appearance.

Various types of hair removal tools have long been known. Tweezers, forexample, are effective, but they are slow, since generally pulling onlyone or two hairs at a time, and they are also painful to the person oranimal from whom the hairs are being removed. In fact, this hurting is acharacteristic of practically all the tools presently on the market.Another type of hair removal tool in common use has a very thin,'oftenflexible or nearly flexible blade with asharp saw-toothed edge. In someinstances the edge is characterized by very deep serrations and usuallyis either right handed or left handed, the side of the blade beinginclined on one side and straight on the other'side. Such tools producea pulling action on the'hair, sometimes unintentionally severing thehair. When pulling it out or tugging at it, the serrated edges produce asharp pain and create a weeping ofthe skin, often resulting in areaction by the dog that sometimes makes it difficult to remove hairfrom dogs, who get very impatient with the pain. Moreover, such toolsare not easy to use, requiring much skill and practree.

I have found that one of the chief reasons for the pain during removalis that the hairs, usually grasped between the ,thumb and the blade andclamped between them, tend to slip during the removal operation, andnecessitate a continuous tugging or repeat tugging to remove, ratherthan quickly being extracted.

In my new invention the hair is also clamped between the thumb and theblade, but each side of the blade is provided with a serrated surfacelike that of a file, with the serrations running at about 45 to 60 tothe edge, or at any rate not perpendicular to the edge. The edge itselfis blunt and may be either smooth or may have very shallow serrations.The serrations should in all cases be'shallow, and both sides of theblade are preferably slightly sloped relative to the blunt edge up to astiff back, to give increased stiffness. As a result, the tool can beused in either hand, and it becomes possible to operate with the maximumof assurance, removing the hair exactly where one places the tool anddoing so with a minimum of pulling and slipping and therefore a minimumof discomfort to the person or animal from which the hair is beingremoved.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from thefollowing description of a preferred embodiment thereof. In thedrawings:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of a hair removal tool embodying theprinciples of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a view in side elevation of the tool of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the tool of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view thereof.

FIG. 5 is a front end elevational view thereof.

FIG. 6 is a rear endelevational view thereof.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view in side elevation of a modified form oftool having a smooth edge.

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of the tool of FIG. 7.

The tool 10 of this invention is made up of two principal elements, ahandle 11 and a blade 12. The handle 11 is preferably made so that itcan be comfortably held by either hand. It may be generally cylindricalat the rear end 13, tapering somewhat in size toward a smaller front end14 with most of the taper on the top surface 15. The handle 11 may berouted or otherwise providedwith a groove 16 adapted to receive a shank17 of the blade 12. The shank 17 should fit smoothly in the groove I6,and may be held there by cement, to assure its remaining immovable,although it may be secured by other well-known means.

The blade 12 projects from the front end 14 of the handle 11 andprojects radially of the handle 14 at one side thereof, which may bethought of generally as the bottom. The blade 12 has a stiff top edge 20that is thicker than the blunt bottom or working edge 21; the sidewalls22 and 23, therefore, are somewhat sloped. The top wall 20 may becurved, as shown.

- The blade 12 is made with the working edge 21 blunt rather than sharpbut as thin as it can be while having the sidewall surfaces 22 and 23serrated and still having the blade 12 stiff and strong. Each sidewall22, 23 of the blade 12 is provided with serrations, preferably at about45 to 60 in both directions, although it may vary from about 20 or 30 toabout 60 or 70. The serrations are definitely not perpendicular to theblade edge 21, and preferably they should not be parallel to it either.The serrations should not be deep, usually less than one sixty-fourth ofan inch, but should be quite sufficient to provide a definitely serratedand roughened surface, generally like a file surface. Note that themajor portion of the blade 12 and all its working part lies at one endof the handle 11 and preferably about a quarter to three-eights of aninch to one side, which is a good position to enable the thumb to comestrongly against it.

' The edge'2l inthe tool of FIGS. 1-6 is serrated, just as are the sides22 and 23, while the edge 25 in the tool of FIGS. 7 and 8 is smooth.Both forms give satisfactory results, since the edge 21 or 25 is notused to cut nor to file, but to provide a terminal edge.

In operation, the handle 11 is held by the palm and fingers, and thethumb is used to clamp hairs against either side 22 or 23 of the blade12, depending on whether the user is right handed or left handed. Thusthe blade edge 21 or 25 is placed at a desired location, and the thumbused to clamp the unwanted hair firmly against the serrated side surface22 or 23. Then the handle 11 is moved and turned, to give a slightrotation away from the skin surface, and the hair is extracted. Due tothe firm nonslip grasp of the hairs between the thumb and the serratedsurfaces, it becomes possible to be more selective-to take off either along coat or short hairs, or both, without gouging the skin or cuttingthe hair. It becomes possible to work very quickly and very efficiently,and the animals treated apparently experience a minimum of discomfort.It is possible to get very exact trimming, therefore, for show use andalso to use it to remove hair from around irritated areas with a minimumof pain to the animal, all of which have obvious advantages. Also, itwill be noted that since the edge 21 or 25 is blunt, the tool 10 is usedwith very small risk to the user, since he can hardly be cut by it.

The tool of this invention is also useful for thread pulling in sewing,especially for removing threads when two pieces of fabric, particularlythe less thin and flimsy fabrics and the more firm fabrics, have beenstitched together and the stitching must be removed. It is oftendifficult and tedious to grasp the cut threads between the thumb andfingers, and the use of this tool makes this a faster and easieroperation.

To those skilled in the art to which this invention relates, manychanges in construction and widely differing embodiments andapplications of the invention will suggest themselves without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention. The disclosures and thedescription herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be inany sense limiting.

I claim:

l. A hair or thread removal tool comprising a generally cylindricalhandle and,

a blade extending out from said handle at one end generally in a radialplane thereof and to one side of the handle,

Said blade having a straight working edge which is blunt and havingnearly parallel sidewalls sloping very gradually away therefrom anddiverging to a thicker top edge, said sidewalls being cross-serrated byshallow serrations that are inclined to the working edge.

2. The tool of claim 1 having said working edge provided with shallowserrations.

3. The tool ofclaim 1 having said working edge smooth.

said blade having a straight working edge which is blunt and havingsidewalls sloping very gradually away therefrom to a thicker top edge,said sidewalls being cross-serrated by shallow serrations that areinclined to the working edge,

said edge being offset from the surface of said handle by aboutone-quarter inch.

1. A hair or thread removal tool comprising a generally cylindricalhandle and, a blade extending out from said handle at one end generallyin a radial plane thereof and to one side of the handle, said bladehaving a straight working edge which is blunt and having nearly parallelsidewalls sloping very gradually away therefrom and diverging to athicker top edge, said sidewalls being cross-serrated by shallowserrations that are inclined to the working edge.
 2. The tool of claim 1having said working edge provided with shallow serrations.
 3. The toolof claim 1 having said working edge smooth.
 4. The tool of claim 1wherein said serrations meet the working edge at an angle between 20*and 70*.
 5. The tool of claim 1 wherein said serrations meet the workingedge at about 45* to 60*.
 6. A hair or thread removal tool comprising agenerally cylindrical handle and, a blade extending out from said handleat one end generally in a radial plane thereof and to one side of thehandle, said blade having a straight working edge which is blunt andhaving sidewalls sloping very gradually away therefrom to a thicker topedge, said sidewalls being cross-serrated by shallow serrations that areinclined to the working edge, said edge being offset from the surface ofsaid handle by about one-quarter inch.